Customer Reviews

Palm Treo 600 Unlocked PDA Phone with SD/MMC--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Well, as an early adapter, I guess I should be used to taking it hard. I bought Verizon's PalmOne Treo 600 the first day it came out - over a year after AT&T, Sprint, and other comapnies released it. My plan is 400 anytime minutes, unlimited in-network calling, unlimited nights and weekend, and $5 for Internet access a month. Unless I go over, it should cost me $49.95 a month. I just got my first bill.

$1,641.66.

It turns out that the connection to the Internet doesn't shut off - even if you chose "Disconnect" from the web browser's menu. Even if you turn off the unit. It continues to ping the Internet looking for data every six minutes. Hence my bill show some 1023-minute calls.

Steve in Verizon's data division said they've received a lot of calls on this issue and isn't sure why they even offer the $5 web-only feature, when customers need to get the $49.95/month unlimited data transfer or deal with $1,000-plus monthly bills. When I asked if there was a way to stop the pinging every six minutes, I was told no, "it's a data phone first and a cell phone second."

Interesting, as my friends who have the phone with other carriers have never had this problem. Interesting, as I was never told this when I bought it. All I wanted was a freakin' cell/PDA combo, so I don't have to carry both with me, making me look like I'm sporting a chubby in two pockets at once. With Verizon, the cost for doing so is $44.95 plus your calling plan a month, which for me will come to about $100.

After 58 minutes, I was told my bill should be adjusted within 24 to 48 hours.

Also, on Verizon Wireless's PalmOne Treo 600 Smartphone web page it lists a 5 MB transfer for only $24.95. When I asked the technical rep about that option, he said getting it would still cause a Treo 600 owner's bill to be over $1,000 a month. He said it was up there for use with other phones. He had no answer when I said there are no other phones on that page.

Now, I probably could return the Treo 600 - except I already sold my old phone and Palm on eBay.

Of course, if I could just get a free minute for every time I heard "Oh, that's the new phone. I'm not familiar with it" none of this would be an issue.

Buy the phone from AT&T, Sprint, Cingular, or another carrier and don't deal with the problems I had with Verizon Wireless. The phone is great!

Okay, this phone isn't perfect but it gets 5 stars. Why? Because at this moment its the best value for your money. Sure, the 650 is better, but unless you want to lock yourself into a 2 year contract its going to cost significantly more. Other comparable options cost similar to the 650.

What I use it for: I'm a T-mobile customer and this phone is a) cheaper than the phone through T-mobile and b) is unlocked. So when I'm in Europe this spring I can simply replace the SIM and go. Note that this is the GSM model - it won't work on Verizon or Sprint.

Pros: Syncing is effortless, scheduling software mimics Outlook 2003 perfectly. Phone works great - good reception and sound quality.

Cons: No bluetooth, no WIFI (the 650 lacks this as well). Screen isn't hi res, camera quality is low (if you want quality get a digicam, I have a Canon S400). Lets be honest - this is yesterday's technology.

Unknowns: Reliability. I've only had this phone for a few days, and we'll see how it stands the test of time.

Conclusion: If you want the latest and greatest get the 650, Nokia 9300, or something else. But you'll be paying that early adopter premium. If you want something that elegantly does the job at a great price then get this.

As far as design and user-friendliness, I can't say enough about how great this phone/pda combo is. I just wish it wasn't such a POS!

I bought an unlocked Treo 600 directly from PalmOne.com about 1 year ago, as I travel internationally and didn't want the hassle of being limited to just one carrier's simcard. It worked wonderfully for a few months, synched effortlessly with Outlook, and was a breeze to enter data into with the qwerty keyboard. I loved trading in my Palm and old cell phone for one combined piece of equipment. The only problem I had right from the beginning is that my earlobe (which must be a genetic abnormality, as I haven't seen any other mention of this problem) would line up just right with the "hang up" button on the touchscreen and would disconnect my calls. I would finally realize it when my phone would ring loudly in my ear as the other person was already calling me back while I was still talking. I can excuse this issue, however, and blame myself for apparently holding the phone at the wrong angle. No problem.

And yet... about 6 months into my ownership of the Treo 600, an extremely loud buzzing sound emerged on the other end of the line. I couldn't hear it myself, but everyone I talked to asked if I was being electrocuted, or being run over by a train, or if I was standing on the runway instead of in the airport. I called Palm and was obviously connected to Thailand or India or wherever the call center (which certainly wasn't a problem, just an observation) and they said this was a common problem and they'd be happy to send me a new one. Great! I got my "new" Treo very quickly with no charge for shipping, but was somewhat displeased to find out it was a refurbished phone and my old one I sent back was in better condition (as far as scratches on the body, screen clarity, etc.). Anyway, I was so happy to get rid of the problematic one that I went along with it. Now I wish I hadn't!

About a month ago (just past the warranty expiration on the original unit, not sure it would even transfer to my refurbished one) the Treo's screen calibration kept becoming inaccurate. I'd reset the calibration and not 10 minutes later it'd be off again. It would get maybe 1 inch off calibration, so I'd intend to choose one calendar entry, and it would instead hit the button for Monday and skip to another day! Or I'd attempt to pick 5pm and it would highlight the entry at 10am. There was apparently no fix for this issue, even with hard resets, reinstallations of software, etc.

I was pretty upset that within just over 1 year I was already trying to replace my second Treo. Anyway, to make a long story short, I pawned it in Asia to a used cell phone vendor that was so desperate to get an American phone he didn't seem to care that the screen was misaligned, and now I'm here on Amazon purchasing a Blackberry...

Just like anything else...I guess a lot depends on our expectations before purchasing the device. With the Treo600 I expected some compramises in the pda functioning and cell phone features. This device does an excellent job in combining both in a neat package. Everything I have used it for works well and is reliable. Good signal strength, clear calls (with Verizon NYC) My PDA software works seamlessly (epocrates, pediasuite, worldmate etc. I don't have much negative to say about this device. It is everything I expected; a functional reliable pda and cell phone. Good expandability with S/D-I/O slot.

However, some negatives...it is pricey, no bluetooth or wi-fi, no voicedial, screen is not highest of resolutions...but then again, I rather have the good battery life and smaller package.

All in all exceleent useful device. I am very happy with my t600

I recently bought an unlocked version of this phone off eBay to replace a Moto Razr phone and an older Palm PDA. It was a pain lugging both of them around and I wanted a device that had both a PDA and phone in one plus e-mail and web browsing capabilities like a Blackberry. A tall order but this phone nearly pulls it off.

Palm users will have no trouble using the familiar PalmOS apps that we've all come to know and love such as Calendar, To-Do List, and Memo Pad. The 4-way navigation button makes it faster and easier to navigate than using the touchscreen although I do find myself whipping out the stylus every now and then. There is no graffiti input on this PDA instead you must use either the qwerty keyboard or touchscreen which have their own inherent difficulties. The tiny keyboard buttons are hard to press and often results in typos. Its slower than using the touchscreen keyboard and definately not ideal for writing long e-mails and such. The touchscreen on this phone is not as forgiving as the one on my old Handspring Visor. You have to be extremely gentle when weilding the stylus because even a small amount of pressure can cause yellow spots to form on the LCD screen. I use the touchscreen occassionally with great care and with a protective cover on the screen and yet I still got a faint yellow spot on the LCD within days. For me this is the most dissappointing thing about this phone.

As a phone the Treo 600's performance is mediocre to average at best. It gets horrible reception indoors. People often complain about static when I'm inside buildings. Poor reception is also accompanied by a loud, annoying buzzing noise that both people on the line can hear. I looked it up on the web and discovered through user reviews that this was an all-too-common problem amongst many Treo 600 users. When it does get good reception, however, the call quality is superb even better than my Moto Razr. The speakerphone is nice and loud although it can be hissy sometimes.

But my favorite feature by far is the ability to send and receive e-mail. Using the Snappermail app (the built-in mail app isn't very good), I can seamlessly link up to my Gmail account and use push e-mail just like on a Blackberry. Plus, its a lot cheaper to use T-zones for e-mail and Internet access on a Treo than the Internet/E-mail plans offered by T-mobile for Blackberrys.

All in all, this is a phone I can live with for the time being although I am ever so-concerned about the LCD screen going bad with use. The fragile screen, hard to use keypad, and subpar phone are the only real drawbacks of this phone but they are serious enough that anyone thinking of getting this phone should give it a good, hard second look. I've heard the Treo 650 has fixed some of these problems and if that's true I would definately consider it over the 600. I do plan to upgrade to another smartphone in a few months when my contract expires such as T-Mobile MDA or Treo 650.

This is the 3rd piece of junk treo i have been given. I have suffered through spontaneous reboots, dropped calls, locking screens, you name it. Now the latest is screen bleeding that no one will cover. This phone is junk.

I have just received my treo 600 from Amazon. Brilliant service and bang on time.I read the previous reviews and was concerned about buying this phone.However,I do believe that there were some bad phones around initially.... ( the treo 600 came out in 2002/3 if my memory serves me correctly). The phone you buy today is bug free ( well mine is??). This phone is the best I have ever purchased- and is pretty easy to use. I had a treo 270 some time ago - but dropped it and it was not worth repairing.There is no comparison between the two- and I think the palm Os is better. The battery life is as stated, and it easily pulls in my GSM signal at the extremities of the cell range. So why all the bad reviews? Frankly, I dont know why.
You dont need the 650 .But I must admit, that I never seem to get the lemons???

This phone is just what I was looking for: a way to combine my PDA with a good cell phone. It has all of the functionality of my palm device, plus the wireless phone and internet access. I really got tired of managing over 200 contacts on a cell phone - entering information using a phone dialing pad. Now I can enter contacts from my Outlook Contacts folder and hot-sync my phone with my laptop. Buying the phone unlocked enabled me to just pop in my existing SIM and use the phone with my provider (Cingular).

Here are the reasons I didn't give this phone 5 Stars (you can judge how important they are to you):

1) Lack of bluetooth
2) Camera is ok at best - don't use it for graduation photos :-)
3) Low screen resolution (still good and usable, but res could be better)
4) Not graffiti enabled (although I purchased third party software [Jot] that works great).

If items 1, 2, and 3 are a problem to you, then you might want to try the Treo 650, which costs a little more, but addresses those shortcomings. I am happy with the 600. It has been worth the money so far. ONE WARNING: If you purchase the unlocked phone, be careful downloading firmware updates from the PalmOne website. After performing an update, my phone locked and I couldn't use the phone with my Cingular SIM. Fortunately, I was able to get help from the seller and my phone is back to full functionality.

I was in the market for a phone, and I gave this a try, because I liked the fact that I could carry this around instead of a phone, an MP3-player, and a PDA. Although I list more cons than pros here, I really do like the phone a lot, and I would recommend it (4 stars). The cons are minor things that I think would be a nice addition, and some people might find it helpful.

Pros:
- Combines a phone, MP3 player, and PDA in a nice package that fits in my hand. All three have functioned very well for me.
- QWERTY keyboard (though it is a bit small)
- PalmOS (standard PDA OS; easy to synchronize with your computer)

Cons:
- No bluetooth (not a big deal for me)
- No WiFi
- Audio quality (phone is so-so, MP3 is decent)
- Low-resolution screen (650 is high-res)
- Requires special adapter for listening to MP3s (you can't simply get a 2.5mm-to-stereo adapter from RadioShack. Otherwise the phone uses its speakers to play the music)
- The camera is pretty much useless at VGA-quality, and don't even bother taking indoor pictures.


I would also recommend getting the following accessories:
- ZipLinq retractable USB sync cable (~$30; also charges the phone)
- Seidio earbuds/headphones (~$30; made for Treos, you can listen to music with this one)
- SD memory card (for MP3's)
- a case (under $30 - if you don't want to keep it in your pocket)
- PDANet software ($30 - allows you to use the phone as a wireless modem if you have Internet access in your phone plan)

One last thing is, you can get a pretty decent GPS unit for another $150.

This was the second Treo 600 that I got from Amazon.com three weeks later some fonctions on the keyboard stop working. When I contacted Palm they told the warranty does not cover keyboard failure then I called T-mobile who advised me to backup the data and do a hard reset. Still didn't work. I called back on satuday 02/04/2006, Palm told me that I have to send them the unit for repaire or pay $25 to get a "premium exchange option" and that I would get the unit in 2 to 3 business day. I called back on the following Wednesday palm said to wait untill Friday.Called On Friday they said that it could be shipped on Monday. I asked to be refunded my $25 because they lied on the terms, the operator said that she could not.